Thirunanthikarai Cave Temple, Kanyakumari
Thirunanthikarai
Cave Temple is a rock-cut cave temple located near Thiruvattar in Kanyakumari District of Tamil
Nadu state of South
India. It is part of Thirunanthikarai
Nandeeswarar Temple. It is one of the most famous and ancient temples of
Kanyakumari district in Tamilnadu, situated on the river banks of Nandiyaru. It
is believed that it was established in the 9th Century AD and it remains one of
the founding stones of Jain religion. Once upon a time, there existed a lot of
sculptures inside the temple. Although the sculptures are not available at
present, there are numerous stone carvings that narrate many interesting tales
related to the Indian culture and religion.
One of
the stone carvings state that King Raja Raja Chola captured Muttom and renamed
it as Mummudi Chola Nallur. According to research, King Raja Raja Chola
celebrated his birthday at this temple in AD 1003. This temple served as home
to an ascetic named Veeranandi, who preached Jainism during the 8th century. Up
to the recent past before 1956, the region around the temple was part of Kerala but is now under the jurisdiction of Tamil Nadu.
It was originally established by Jains in 7th century CE and later turned into Hindu
shrine.
History
For
brief details, please refer below link;
The
Temple
For
brief details, please refer below link;
Inscriptions
For
brief details, please refer below link;
Murals
& Paintings
For
brief details, please refer below link;
Connectivity
The
Temple is located on Marthandam to Pechiparai road at a walkable distance from
Thirunanthikarai Bus Stop. Thirunanthikarai is located at about 4 Kms from Kulasekharam,
6 Kms from Pechiparai, 7 Kms from Thirparappu, 9 Kms from Thiruvattaru, 15 Kms
from Marthandam, 20 Kms from Kuzhithurai, 20 Kms from Thuckalay, 23 Kms from Eraniel,
21 Kms from Padmanabhapuram, 30 Kms from Colachel, 32 Kms from Nagercoil, 57
Kms from Kanyakumari and 60 Kms from Thiruvananthapuram.
Thirunanthikarai
and its nearest town Kulasekaram are well connected from Thiruvananthapuram or
Kovalam Beach or Kanyakumari. You can get busses from Nagercoil, Thuckalay,
Marthandam, Kulasekaram. Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC)
organizes local site seeing tours. Nearest Railway Station is located at
Kuzhithurai and Eraniel. Nearest Airport is located at Thiruvananthapuram.
